Health and Disability

From The Wall Street Journal:

A major insurer has dumped a chunk of its long-term-care policies
into an independent trust, putting tens of thousands of policyholders
at risk of reduced benefits or big premium increases.

Conseco
Inc. officials have said the transfer of many of the insurers'
long-term care policies to a new state-supervised nonprofit trust,
Senior Health Insurance Co. of Pennsylvania, allows it to concentrate
on its core businesses. The policies were a drag on the company's
earnings because they were underpriced and required continuing capital
infusions to meet the long-term needs of policyholders.

For More....

from McKnight's:

Congress should enact reforms that bolster the long-term care workforce
and help address the nursing shortage, the American Health Care
Association told lawmakers Monday.

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from 7th Space Interactive:

Experiencing autonomy is recognized to promote health and well-being
for all age groups. Perceived lack of control has been found to be
detrimental to physical and mental health......

DUH!

For More.....

from The Military Family Network:

Experts Provide Testimony on Traumatic Brain Injuries and Stroke

The Social Security Administration, in conjunction with the United
States Department of Defense, held a public hearing on Compassionate
Allowances today at Ft. Myer in Arlington, VA. Senior executives from
the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health joined
Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, to hear testimony
from some of the nation’s leading experts on traumatic brain injury,
the signature injury of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and
stroke.

“Compassionate Allowances, which we launched last month with an
initial list of 50 conditions, allows us to make disability decisions
on certain categories of cases in a matter of days, rather than months
or years,” said Commissioner Astrue. “Today’s hearing gives us
additional insight into how we might better recognize and fast-track
the disability applications of veterans and others dealing with the
effects of traumatic brain injuries and strokes.”

Compassionate Allowances are a way of quickly identifying
diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under
Social Security’s disability standards based on minimal objective
medical information. Today’s hearing is the third of four public
hearings Social Security plans to hold.

Previous hearings dealt with cancers and rare diseases and
resulted in the nationwide launch of the Compassionate Allowances
initiative in October 2008. See the press release at: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/pr/compassionate-allowances-1008-pr.htm

For More....

from Medical news Today:

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announces that health care
leaders from across the state have formed the Wisconsin Pressure Ulcer
Coalition to help reduce pressure ulcers in Wisconsin's health care
industry, including nursing homes and hospitals.....

The goals of the Wisconsin Pressure Ulcer Coalition are to:

- Decrease the incidence of pressure ulcers in our health care settings

- Continue to educate caregivers and leaders about effective preventive measures

- Improve assessment when an individual is admitted to a health care facility, as well as continue to monitor appropriately

- Develop appropriate prevention strategies within 24 hours if
individual identified to be at risk of developing pressure ulcers

- Improve communication between providers to provide a better continuity of care

for More...

from PHI:

As the challenge of caring for America’s aging population
intensifies, the issue is beginning to get the increased newspaper
coverage it deserves. Case in point: an in-depth series that has been
offered up from a small daily paper out of Utah (hat tip to The New Old Age).

Gray Area: Utah As It Ages
features sparsely written vignettes examining the lives of elderly
people in Utah when they were young and their current challenges with
aging. Accompanying each story are intimate black and white photos of
wrinkles, smiles, and struggles.

For More...

from Gather:

As I write these words thousands upon thousands of elderly people
are being cared for at home, in hospitals, and nursing homes. The
problem is most caregivers lack the proper amount of training and
education to deliver or administer top of the line quality care and
treatment. The nurse aide, home health aide, and family member
caregiver need to be recognized as the most important component in the
long term health care system. They are the ones who make or break the
system. They are the ones who deliver the majority of care to the
patient. Yet they are the ones least recognized and in some cases even
disrespected.

At some point in time all of you reading these
words will be face to face with a basic caregiver. And you better hope,
for your sake, they know what they are doing. For they are the ones who
hold the key to your survival. They are the ones in control of your
care. And in many cases they will be the ones fighting for your life
(or not). How do you know a good caregiver from a bad caregiver? You
don't.

For More......

from Joseph Rowntree Foundation:

Any new settlement on long-term care and support must address the apportionment of responsibility for its delivery as well as its funding. With the state's capacity limited and family input likely to decline, the wider community must expect to play a growing role. This offers an opportunity to end social care's marginalisation, argues David Brindle.

Author
David Brindle, The Guardian
Key points

    * Social care has become isolated from mainstream society and its recipients are cut off from their neighbourhoods and from each other.

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from guardian.co.uk:

Disabled people are much more likely than the able-bodied to be hit,
injured, bullied and humiliated at work, groundbreaking research for
the Equality and Human Rights Commission will reveal today.

In
the first comprehensive survey of discrimination in the workplace, the
commission found 11.6% of employees with a disability or long-term
illness experienced physical violence at work, compared with 5.5% of
other employees.

It said 8.8% of disabled people sustained an
injury as a result of violence or aggression at work, compared with
4.7% of able-bodied people.

For More.....

from InjuryBoard.com:

My, My!!

Nursing home cases in Arkansas present unique problems. Many nursing
homes no longer carry liability insurance and have mortgages and liens
against their assets, making collection of any judgment next to
impossible. After a series of large verdicts here in Arkansas the homes
could no longer afford to carry liability insurance.

My advice in selecting a nursing home for your loved one is to inquire
about their history of lawsuits in the past. One good source is the
Medicare website, Nursing Homes Compare.